Profile: Bill Rammell

After a ministerial career which has included two spells in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, two years as a minister of state at the Department for Education and Skills, over a year at the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills, and now at the Ministry of Defence, the 46-year-old MP for Harlow has widely been seen as a solid performer for Labour, until, perhaps now.

In his first spell at the Foreign Office from 2002, he campaigned for London's ultimately successful 2012 Olympic bid. On his return he held the sensitive portfolios for the Middle East, North America and counter-terrorism and has been entrusted with sensitive missions. In 2004, he became the first British minister ever to visit North Korea, where he challenged the regime on human rights.

In February he visited representatives of the Libyan government including the prime minister, Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, and the minister for Europe, Abdulati al-Obidi. The discussions focused on "high-level and diplomatic issues including counter-terrorism co-operation and trade between the two countries", the Foreign Office said at the time.

Rammell's early political career took a conventional path and he has built up grass roots experience. His maiden speech in the Commons was in 1997 and in 2001 he was parliamentary private secretary to Tessa Jowell. At the MoD, his portfolios include Iraq operations and counter-terrorism.